I got the new BMW C Evolution electric scooter 4 weeks ago now exactly and rode it almost every day, to commute and to go out in Paris at night and during the week end
To summarize my experience I must say that I am delighted with it, and always excited to use it every morning and every night when I turn the ignition key :-) and never used the LEAF ever since
First the power and acceleration are awesome and I am quickly at 100 km/h in town if I leave it full throttle, which is a lot ! It can be very quickly dangerous for a newbie and also a drivers license killer in seconds, so let's be careful ...
I commute with it and do 90% freeway every week day, which is new for me on a scooter: it is fully adapted to this thanks to the great handling, braking and of course acceleration capability to do whatever I want whenever I want : merge into traffic, overtake, etc
I always use the SAIL Mode, allowing freewheling / coasting, I like to accelrate and then let the scooter continue without having to fight automatic regen. Anyways when I need to slow down, anticipation is key and the motor has some drag / brake of its own that will eventually stop the bike; Also when you touch the brakes, it will engage regen, and you can hear it (when in a silent environment like my parking) and see it on the LCD dashboard ...
The 129 km/h limit - on the display - is fine since freeways I use are mostly 90, 110 and maybe 5 km at 130 km/h max
The range is great with a real 100 km, at freeway speed this time - which is never the case with EV range figures - ! I very often see 50km on my daily trip gage when I get home, and 50% charge left in the battery pack :-) So I can commute, get home and go out at night anywhere in Paris and return home with like 20% maybe, all this on a single charge: Perfect !
Over the week end, fully charged, I experienced 130km of range capability going around town in Paris, without limiting myself at all, with plenty of full trottle green light accelerations
I get a lot of positive feedback/reactions cruising at low speed in the street, at the red light, when parking, on the freeway (from BMW owners too), get into a lot of chat with scooter owners ...
Braking with ABS is also new for me on a two wheels and is very effective and reassuring in case of emergency, even if I am always extra careful especially at high speed, even more when the road is wet
TCA - Torque Control Assist - is also a mandatory feature with this much power and torque, and it is triggered very easily even on dry pavement; It works exactly like on the Tesla Model S to avoid spinning the rear wheels and slide sideways
Charging is also very well done, quick with the onboard 3kW charger and the current 6-10A limiting EVSE provided with the scooter. I use the LEAF's just because it is already there mounted on the wall in my parking and of course because it has the same J2772 plug, which can be found in many places, like at Autolib charging stations all over Paris ... I always charge at 10A which is 2200W
But wait there's more ! It is 3 times more efficient than commuting with the LEAF ! so everything can be improved, even if you already drive an EV :-) : 4kWh round trip instead of 12
BMW made a Dream Electric Machine I think, in terms of power, acceleration, range, charging, handling, security ... I mean I can not find a defect, maybe the size of the trunk, but that's it :-)
It is now for sure the new world reference for Electric Scooters !
